City of Doral Parks & Recreation Department Highlights from Winter
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City of Doral Parks & Recreation Department Highlights from Winter 15-16 Holiday Lights & Ice Camping Under the Stars Youth Basketball Employee of the Month Silver Club Trips & Tours & Much More! Holiday Lights & Ice Event Parks & Recreation Department Phone Number 305-593-6600 Fax Number 305-593-6615 IN THIS ISSUE Barbara Hernandez SIGNATURE EVENTS Parks & Recreation Director 4 Lazaro Quintero CULTURAL EVENTS Assistant Parks & Recreation Director 5 Erin Weislow OTHER EVENTS Recreation Administrator 6 Ashley Barcena SILVER CLUB Administrative Assistant to the Parks & 7 Recreation Director Youth & Adult Sports Meaghan Garcia 8 Accounting Clerk YOUTH PROGRAMS Jessica Roth 9 Special Events Coordinator SPECIAL NEEDS Amy Miller 10 Events Specialist Steven Diaz 11 EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH Recreation Programs Coordinator Brittney Hatem PARK PROJECT UPDATE Recreation & Sponsorship Coordinator 12 Jeorge Vega TTENDANCE EGISTRATION Recreation Programs Coordinator 13 A & R Michael Festa Parks Maintenance Supervisor JANUARY/FEBRUARY CALENDAR 14 Mauricio Narvaez Recreation Facility Supervisor The My Parx app provides park visitors with the free access to quality information on parks, Edward Rojas from local municipal parks City Manager through to state and national Albert Childress Assistant City Manager parks. Follow Us My Parx lets you easily find parks that are relevant to you. Discover nearby parks, browse for parks with specific features, @cityofdoral or find parks that you've always wanted to know about. 2 Mayor & Council Members Mayor Luigi Boria Councilwoman Vice Mayor Councilman Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz Christi Fraga Pete Cabrera Ana Maria Rodriguez Parks & Facilities Doral Meadow Park Morgan Levy Park 11555 NW 58 Street 5300 NW 102 Avenue (305) 593-6606 (305) 482-9590 Features: 14 acres, 5 tennis Features: 14 acres, 2 lighted courts, 4 basketball courts, 2 baseball fields, 2 artificial turf artificial turf lighted soccer soccer/football fields, a shaded fields, 2 sand volleyball courts, & lighted playground, a 30x30 fitness trails, 5 pavilions, and a pavilion, an exercise path and shaded playground concession building. Veterans Park Downtown Doral Park 10190 NW 33 Street 8395 NW 53 Street Features: 1.3 acres, Features: 3 acres, playground, Veterans Memorial, shaded walkway, and shaded picnic playground, picnic tables, tables. ATTENDANCE & REGISTRATION paved walkway. JANUARY/FEBRUARY CALENDAR Doral Central Park Trails & Tails Park 3000 NW 87 Avenue 11645 NW 50 Street Features: 82 acres, .9 mile Features: 8 acres, small & jogging / walking trail, large dog area, shaded exercise stations, BBQ grills, playground, dog-friendly water picnic tables and a 21 acre fountains, dog wash area, and lake. Memory Lane. To stay informed with all upcoming events, information, programming & for a list of all our Park hours visit: www.cityofdoral.com/parks www.cityofdoral.com/parks Winter 2015 Parks & Recreation 3 SIGNATURE EVENTS BREAKFAST WITH SANTA The annual “Breakfast with Santa” event was held on Saturday, December 5, 2015, at a new location this year. This year, the event was held at the Downtown Doral Charter Elementary School from 9:00-11:00am with an attendance of over 400 patrons, a 60% increase from last year! Families were able to enjoy the morning having breakfast and taking pictures with San- ta. About mid-way through the event, the DDCE Cheerleaders provided a special performance. Parents and audience members cheered in excitement, as they clapped along and photographed the performance! Throughout the event, there were several holiday themed activities to partake in, such as getting face paintings, balloon art, visiting the holiday arts and crafts table, and more! There also had the chance to listen to Mrs. Clause read magical stories in the Storytime room. Overall, it was a great event to open up the Holiday season and spread some Holiday cheer! PARK & TREE LIGHTING CELEBRATION This year, the signature “Park & Tree Lighting” was held on Monday, December 7, 2015 beginning at 6:00pm at Downtown Doral Park. The City’s Christmas tree, located in the rotunda in front of the Government Center, stands beautiful and tall at 30 feet in height! 1,500 patrons enjoyed the evening with live festive musical performances, fun activities, and most importantly, watched the tree light up! The Mayor and Councilmembers said a few brief words and started the count down to the tree lighting! “...5…4…3…2…1!” and the beautiful tree was lit! It was a wonderful event full of holiday festivities! Children were able to write a letter to Santa, and drop it off in the Doral Holiday Mailbox, or go inside the Government Center to take a picture with Santa himself! LIGHT UP THE NIGHT MENORAH LIGHTING CEREMONY The following evening, the City hosted the “Light Up the Night” event, a heartwarming Menorah Lighting Ceremony which also honors all of our first responders during the holiday season. The event was held on the 2nd night of Hanukkah, in the lobby of the Doral Government Center at 6:30pm. The ceremony was led by Rabbi Avrohom Brashevitzky. A stunning 9-foot electric menorah was placed adjacent to the main staircase located at the center of the lobby which made for a beautiful focal point. On the opposite side of the staircase, a table was placed with the traditional oil-burning menorah. Individual candles were handed out to the estimated 50 people in attendance. Students from Ronald Reagan Senior High School played traditional Hanukkah music live during the ceremony. After the Rabbi’s closing statements, patrons were invited to enjoy kosher donuts and take a free toy for the children! It was a beautiful night of unity and recognition of those who keep us safe. 4 Parks & Recreation Winter 2015 www.cityofdoral.com/parks HOLIDAY LIGHTS & ICE The signature “Holiday Lights & Ice” event was held at Doral Central Park beginning at 6:00pm on Friday, December 11, 2015. This holiday-themed carnival, that attracted about 9,000 patrons, was full of exciting activities for families, and children of all ages! The carnival hosted 15 rides for children up to 12 years of age, and four snow piles that were divided into age groups. There was also plenty of food for all to enjoy from delicious food vendors and food trucks. Children had the opportunity to get their face painted, and take a picture with Santa! There were performances going on during the event from local businesses, including vocal and dance performances from Doral schools children’s choirs, and our very own Special Needs dance group, “Feel the Beat”! CAMPING UNDER THE STARS On Friday, January 29, 2015, the Camping Under the Stars event kicked off at 5:00pm where an estimated 2,500 patrons gathered to set up their camp sites and enjoy all the fun-filled activities offered throughout the night. Campers were thrilled to spend the evening under the moonlit sky at Doral Central Park. Patrons had the opportunity to climb the rock-climbing wall; visit the Frost Museum of Science tent and participate in neat science experiments; and stop by the wild animal encounter tents to hold or pet animals like otters, alligators, lemurs, parrots, and foxes! At 8:30pm the feature film, Disney’s Aladdin, was displayed on a larger-than-life inflatable movie screen that stood 3-stories high! Immediately following the movie, attendees were asked to join the Boy Scouts by the campfire for the Flag Retirement Ceremony. The following morning, the Boy Scouts performed the Reveille wake-up call at 7:00am. Once awake, campers began to gather their belongings and had the opportunity to enjoy breakfast. CULTURAL EVENTS ART KNIGHTS AT DOWNTOWN DORAL PARK PRESENTS FORBIDDEN SAINTS The third Art Knights event, Forbidden Saints Live in Concert at Downtown Doral Park, joined by the Miami Symphony Orchestra for a special opening performance was held on January The grandiose stage was set on the north end of the park, which featured the beautiful Micco as the open-air background. The concert opened up with opening statements by the Mayor and Council, who welcomed the audience, and brought the Miami Symphony Orchestra (MiSO) maestro, Eduardo Maturet, to the stage. The performance was outstanding, and featured songs like Disney’s Sleeping Beauty’s “Once upon a Dream”, and a fantastic closing performance of John William’s “Star Wars” theme. After a 30 minute intermission, the headliners of the night, Forbidden Saints, took the stage with an exciting performance that brought everyone to their feet! Their musical sounds were a fusion of Latin, flamenco, Caribbean, with a unique incorporation of a harp. The five musicians were exceptionally entertaining. They interacted with the crowd and asked them to come up out of the chairs and to dance right in front of the stage. It was truly a beautiful and unforgettable evening! www.cityofdoral.com/parks Winter 2015 Parks & Recreation 5 OTHER EVENTS PLAY DAY Each year the City applies for the “Playful City USA Community Champion” Recognition, which is a program that honors cities and towns across the country for taking bold steps that make it easy for all kids to get the balance and active play they need to thrive. This year would make the sixth consecutive year we’ve received the recognition. To celebrate the recognition and promote play, the City hosts the annual Play Day Event. This year, the event was held on Saturday, February 6, 2016, held at Doral Meadow Park from 11:00am – 2:00pm with an estimated 2,500 patrons in attendance. Throughout the day, children of all ages had several exciting activities to choose from! They had the opportunity to play soccer in the demonstration area provided by Doral Soccer Club, jump around in the bounce house, test their athletic skills in the obstacle courses, get their face painted, and play mini golf.